MORGANTOWN -- Dr. Jon L. Jordan, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) federal air surgeon, is the recipient of this year's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Recognition Award at West Virginia University.

The Dec. 9 ceremony will recognize Jordan's leadership in both government and civil aviation medicine.

After graduating from WVU in 1958, Jordan earned a M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia in 1963 and a law degree from the University of Virginia's College of Law in 1967. He practiced medicine in Williamson, Ky., and then joined the U.S. Medical Corps in 1967. Later, he served as a flight surgeon at Fort Lewis, Wash., and chief of aviation medicine at Madigan General Hospital in Tacoma, Wash.

He left the Army in 1969 with the rank of major to join the FAA's Office of Aviation Medicine in Washington, D.C., where he headed the Project Development Branch. He was promoted to chief of the medical standards division in 1976, deputy federal air surgeon in 1979 and federal air surgeon in 1991.

He received the FAA's Superior Achievement Award in 1985, the Presidential Rank Meritorious Executive Award in 1992 and the Airlines Medical Directors Association Award in 1995. The Civil Aviation Medical Association presented him with the John A. Tamisiea Award in 1988, which is awarded annually to an aviation medical examiner who has made an outstanding contribution to the aviation field.

Jordan is currently a fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association and a member of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. He is a member of the bar in Virginia and Washington, D.C., and he is licensed to practice medicine in Virginia and West Virginia.

The Alumni Recognition Award acknowledges living college alumni, regardless of major or degree level, who reflect the values of a liberal arts and sciences education. Some of the values include development as a member of society, appreciation of knowledge and truth-seeking and practice of respect for others and self. Nominations may be received from any department or program within the Eberly College, from any faculty or staff, from Advisory Board members, and from alumni and friends of the Eberly College.